Linking nuclear energy, human development and carbon emission in BRICS region: Do external debt and financial globalization protect the environment?

Nuclear energy has the potential to play an influential role in energy transition efforts than is now anticipated by many countries. Realizing sustainable human development and reducing global climate crises will become more difficult without significantly increasing nuclear power. This paper aims to probe the role of nuclear energy, external debt, and financial globalization in sustaining human development and environmental conditions simultaneously in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries. This study applied a battery of second-generation estimation approaches over the period from 1990 to 2019. These methods are useful and robust to cross-countries dependencies, slope heterogeneity, parameters endogeneity, and serial correlation that are ignored in conventional approaches to generate more comprehensive and reliable estimates. The empirical findings indicate that nuclear energy and financial globalization contribute to human development, whereas external debt inhibits it. Similarly, financial globalization accelerates ecological deterioration, but nuclear energy and external debt promote environmental sustainability. Moreover, the study reveals bidirectional feedback causalities between human development, carbon emissions and nuclear energy consumption. The study offers useful policy guidance on accomplishing sustainable and inclusive development in BRICS countries.